


Informational Interlude

by scholarlydragon



Series: Turning of the Seasons [3]
Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Backstory, Character building, Informational
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:22:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25008388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scholarlydragon/pseuds/scholarlydragon
Summary: A brief detour to share some notes and characterization of Harvey and Wren.
Series: Turning of the Seasons [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1756120
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Informational Interlude

Now that we have progressed a bit into _Turning of the Seasons_ , I wanted to share some character notes and musical theming with you all.

**Characters**

I have quite a bit of characterization “backstory” written up for both Wren and Harvey. I don’t know that I will necessarily find places for everything as we go along, so I thought it might be useful for my readers to know what I have in mind for them while reading. I will be steering clear of spoilers in this list, but everything is relevant even if it’s never overtly mentioned other than here.

(There are many sites for the Meyers-Briggs test online. I like this one: https://www.16personalities.com. I have paraphrased the type descriptions from that site for purposes of this post.)

**Harvey Christopher Blackwell**

Love Language: Touch (primary), Quality Time (secondary)

Meyers-Briggs: ISFJ

Signature scent: Sandalwood

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Brown

Birthday: January 14 

Sign: Capricorn

**Wren Elizabeth Garner**

Love Language: Service (primary), Words of Affirmation (secondary)

Meyers-Briggs: ISTJ

Signature Scent: Vanilla

Hair: Auburn

Eyes: Hazel

Birthday: April 22

Sign: Taurus

Love Language:

I admit a bit of self-serving interest in these particular characterizations. 

Given what was laid out in the last chapter of _Making Time_ with Wren’s history, I wanted to give Harvey a love language that would cause a bit of conflict with that but primarily would give her a way to experience the opposite of what she had been through. Thomas refused touch except as manipulation, and Harvey uses it to show that he cares.

In the same vein, Wren’s primary love language will come against how Harvey tends to expect the world to work. He is accustomed to looking after himself and those around him and as an ISFJ (more on that below), service to others is more or less ingrained in him. He will need to learn that it’s okay to let someone else look after him, especially when it’s how they show that they care.

Scent:

Here, again, I’ve been a smidge self-serving. I love the scent of sandalwood and I wanted to put that on Harvey. For Wren, however, in addition to being a lovely scent, Vanilla has several properties that map to her actions and effects in the story.

Vanilla is a comforting, soothing scent and that mirrors the effects of Wren’s presence on Harvey. It is also said to have an aphrodisiac effect so… well, you can guess. 😆

We may be in a slow burn right now, but that won’t last forever!

Meyers-Briggs

**Harvey**

In considering his canon characterization and what I could extrapolate for this series, it seemed clear to me that he is ISFJ on the Meyers-Briggs personality matrix. They are conscientious and hard-working, focused on fulfilling expectations. They tend to place a higher value than other people on what they view as important.

The ISFJ individual places high value on cooperation and beneficial relationships, striving for steadiness, and giving deep devotion. They seek reliability in others. They show loyalty to traditions and the “proper” way of acting. They seek to bolster existing community ties and do not “rock the boat” by disrupting extant systems. 

They exhibit humility and tend to be “wallflowers”, preferring to fade into the background. They readily help others but seek to do so in a quiet way. ISFJs take on duties and tasks that are helpful to those around them and pursue those tasks diligently. They generally do not want attention in what they do, preferring their efforts to be unnoticed.

ISFJs are empathetic with others and relate in terms of what they have observed instead of hypotheticals. They can be reticent to give out personal information, tending to be on the stand-offish side when meeting someone new. ISFJs typically enjoy learning about people they meet in order to build the connections they value so highly. They tend to “bottle up” their feelings, leading to stress.

ISFJs can be shy to a fault, even to the point of denying credit for things they have done. If even part of an endeavor is less than successful the ISFJ can be left feeling as though the entire venture failed. Interpersonal conflict can linger in their minds, coloring future interactions. 

ISFJs tend to take on too much due to a hunger for fulfilling duty and avoidance of conflict. The drive to meet expectations often creates an unwinnable situation as the ISFJ flounders under the self-imposed weight.

The ISFJ places a great deal of stock in the idea that things will improve and that one should not burden others, though they become overloaded by their own altruism in the process.

**Wren**

I was able to have a little more leeway in being able to create Wren’s character since the canonical farmer is so much of a blank slate. Given what I already had in mind for her, and how the story was progressing, ISTJ on the personality matrix seemed to fit her well.

The ISTJ individual is rational and careful, preferring to go about their lives with logic and integrity. They are responsible and proud of it, devoting anything and everything needed to their goals. When faced with a problem, they will meet it with analysis and careful thought.

ISTJs place a high value on completing what they say they will complete, holding little patience for those who do not do the same. They adhere to their core of integrity to a fault, admitting to mistakes and missteps even to their own detriment. They can come across as blunt, sometimes overly so, sometimes putting them at odds with those around them. Honesty is paramount.

ISTJs will never engage in emotional manipulation, as doing so runs counter to the smooth-running, honest reality they crave. 

They are calm and practical, viewing this as just another means to ensure the effectiveness of their chosen avenue of action.

ISTJs can fall into a trap of resisting new notions unsupported by known facts. They struggle with accepting that they are wrong about something, taking time to come around to a new way of thinking. 

They can be self-reliant to a fault, believing that they are the only ones able to properly manage an endeavor. This can lead to overload as the ISTJ takes on more than they can handle in the effort to see everything through. This creates a situation in which the ISTJ blames themselves entirely for the failure of the action.

As an ISFJ and ISTJ, Harvey and Wren are very similar, differing primarily in how they prefer to make decisions, with Wren preferring logical reasoning and Harvey preferring to consider how actions affect others.

Harvey did seem to buck the ISFJ trend of reticence by telling Wren on their first real date about how she has helped him and how he feels about her. However, he had to nerve himself up for this disclosure quite a bit and there is still more to why he is the way that he is that he has not told her. There are more heart-to-hearts coming.

Horoscope:

I owe a lot of this piecing together to SerpentinaShana. This would have been a lot more half-ass without her help. Other information was gleaned from [ blog.prepscholar.com/zodiac-symbols-signs ](https://blog.prepscholar.com/zodiac-symbols-signs). 

**Harvey**

The Capricorn is sensible, with an ambitious streak. They are willing to do what needs to be done in order to achieve their goals, but they can tend to be defeatist. Additionally, they can be overly restrained and not in touch with their emotions.

A Capricorn is a stubborn individual, diligent, and serious. They are tenacious when they have their mind on a goal or outcome. They committed to the idea of always doing and being better.

Capricorns, on the negative side, tend to be pessimistic workaholics, coupling the defeatist attitude with the drive to accomplish.

**I have retconned the last full chapter of _Illumination_ in order to reflect the change in Harvey’s birthday. I picked December 14th on a whim, but January and thus Capricorn turns out to fit him much better.**

Harvey has, thus far, not exhibited too much of the stubbornness of a Capricorn, but this is going to become a very important character trait. He is going to have to learn how to bend and allow others to shoulder some of the burdens he sees it as his job to bear.

Canonically, Harvey has stuck with the clinic in Pelican Town through dwindling revenue and worries over being able to stay open. I have extrapolated this to mean that he views the very idea of the clinic as a responsibility. In _Illumination_ , he mused on the possibility of taking a job in the city that would pay better and allow him to have a more comfortable life without money struggles. But everything that has come up thus far would have resulted in being little better than a cog in a machine, just another doctor working in a hospital ward. Harvey views knowing that he is making a difference as a high responsibility and so he has stayed in the Valley well past the point where others might have left.

**Wren**

The Taurus is intelligent, dependable, and hardworking, though they also have a stubborn streak. They crave stability and place high importance on honesty.

As much as they value hard work, they also enjoy luxury and comfort and know how to relax.

The Taurus individual can be very set in their ways and does not have much fondness for authority, especially if it is ill-informed.

With her natural tendencies and need for honesty and stability, what Wren experienced with Thomas threw her badly off course. In her search for love and stability, he was able to take advantage. This also hurt her deeply given her need for honesty in a relationship. 

The farm will fulfill much of Wren’s need for hard work and stability. Already, bringing it up to running order has been beneficial for her in the time that she has been in the Valley, as it has given her a task to focus on and sense of accomplishment. She runs a risk with farmwork and the success of it becoming the be-all-end-all, especially given the situation she left behind. 

In a relationship, both Taurus and Capricorn are earthy, passionate signs with a natural understanding of one another’s approaches toward life. They will tend to have many goals in common as well. A Capricorn’s diligence provides the stability that a Taurus craves, and Taurean dedication appeals to the Capricorn’s need for continuous improvement. (Thank you Shana!)

**Music**

I have a music playlist for Wren and Harvey. While it is largely 80’s ballads and mushy things that make me happy and get me in the mood to write romance, I do have some very specific songs that are _theirs._

You may have noticed that I placed lyrics from “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol at the end of _Making Time._ This was very deliberate. This song is _them_. Real-life and problems might swirl and storm, but all they need is each other and a chance to just forget the world.

[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GemKqzILV4w ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GemKqzILV4w)

Wren’s song for Harvey is Vanessa Williams’ “The Sweetest Days”. She has such an effect on his worrying and anxiety, she is a rock in moments that would tear him apart. I also have in mind that any given time they are together is ‘the sweetest days’ because they have that moment and they are together, but also because things just keep getting better. Every day that they have each other is sweeter than the last.

[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu38a7w9Ss4&list=PLVwx0SHCz21UKgKiH0rTbEdy9lLlTnwzn&index=42 ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu38a7w9Ss4&list=PLVwx0SHCz21UKgKiH0rTbEdy9lLlTnwzn&index=42)

Harvey’s song for Wren is Peter Gabriel’s “The Book of Love”. I owe this one to Alulah. When she suggested the song and I listened to it, I _cried_ at just the thought of Harvey singing this to Wren. He’s seen and experienced enough to make him jaded for love and for the world. But even when he could choose to pass up things that have hurt him before, he tells her that she can read him anything from the book of love.

[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2664YmH-1Ms&list=PLVwx0SHCz21UKgKiH0rTbEdy9lLlTnwzn&index=40&t=0s ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2664YmH-1Ms&list=PLVwx0SHCz21UKgKiH0rTbEdy9lLlTnwzn&index=40&t=0s)

  
  


I hope everyone is enjoying this journey. I certainly am. These two dorky lovebirds have my entire heart. As it stands, I’ve plotted out 19 total stories for this series, though that number may well change as I work through the stories and get ideas or stories meld together. I will be taking them through the entire relationship journey, so never fear. Not only will the slow burn not last forever, there is _a lot_ coming.

Happy reading!


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